by David Chapman
Staff Writer
Football season means Gator Bowl season.
With the first kickoffs officially in the books, Gator Bowl Association members dusted off their signature green jackets from a summer in the closet and got back to work Thursday, holding their first official meeting for the season at Mavericks at the Landing.
“It’s been a long summer,” said Daniel Kennedy Murphy, who officially began his role as 2010 Gator Bowl Chair. “It was our first official meeting to get back and try to do some things to get fans here for economic development.”
Along with the business side of the group, Murphy said he wanted to “make things a lot more fun,” this year to be successful.
Two fun things – a special tribute and a now-standing tradition – took place during the association’s kickoff meeting following the greetings and Murphy’s call for the group to get back to work.
Past Chair and longtime Gator Bowl contributor Bill Gay, founder and CEO of W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractor, was honored for his more than 50 years of dedication toward the game with the announcement that all future Gator Bowl games will be played at “Bill Gay Field.” A video montage with scenes from Gay’s Gator Bowl history were shown to the group, while City Council member Ronnie Fussell narrated his achievements and contributions through the years.
Gay then spoke on some of his history with the game and called it an honor, before looking at the poster of the field bearing his name and joking: “I’m glad I don’t have to mow that lawn.”
Murphy said without Gay’s many contributions and service, he didn’t know if the game would be going into its 65th year – something many of the committee members nodded in agreement with.
The first meeting also marked the official unveiling of the mark that will be used on the posters as well as advertising and promotional purposes for the game.
Kurtis Loftus, founder of Beaches advertising and marketing firm The Kurtis Group, created the mark for the 9th consecutive year. This year’s visual was to be more about the beach and a casual atmosphere, as that’s what committee members wanted to see more of, he said.
Murphy announced that contract negotiations with conferences and television were “knee deep” and should be finalized by the committee’s next meeting Oct. 1 at the Omni.
The Gator Bowl Association is currently in talks with the Big 10, Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference on game affiliation, while he added that keeping the game on New Year’s Day and televised on ESPN was potentially still possible.
“Stay tuned,” he said.
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